A new HP convertible Chromebook with a 12 inch display is on the way, and it’s expected to have a larger screen, but a more compact design than the current-gen HP Chromebook x360 11, which sells for $300.
HP hasn’t officially launched the new HP Chromebook x360 12 yet, so there’s no word on the pricing or release date. But according to an Amazon product page, it’s powered by an Intel Celeron N4000 processor and at least one model will be available with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.
Update: It’s official, and it’s available from HP for $360.
Not sure you trust a retail website posting? How about the HP support website? The company has posted 16 product repair videos for the HP Chromebook x360 12-H0000. Many are also on the HP Support YouTube channel.
In terms of design, the new laptop appears to have slimmer bezels around the display and less space to the left and right sides of the keyboard than the HP Chromebook x360 11. So I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that despite the larger display, this will be a smaller laptop.
As for that display, there aren’t actually very many devices with screens that are actually 12 inches, so smart money is on this laptop sporting a 12.3 inch display. Oh, and it looks like the new laptop has an HD+ display with a 3:2 aspect ratio, compared to the 1366 x 768 pixel (16:9) display on its predecessor.
The new model’s 6 watt Intel Celeron N4000 dual core Gemini Lake processor isn’t exactly a speed demon, but it should offer better performance than the older Celeron N3350 Apollo Lake chip in the 11.6 inch model.
That processor also suggests that the new Chromebook will be relatively inexpensive… at least if you opt for a Celeron N4000/4GB/32GB model. Kevin Tofel from About Chromebooks speculates that there may be higher-end models with better specs, which would certainly make sense for a device with a sleeker design than the model it replaces.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ5rZhem4Z8
via @rquandt
Wow I should have clicked the links to the repair videos sooner. They appear to have been taken down.
I’m not sure what resolution HD+ would be on a 3:2 12.3″ screen. HD+ can be as low as 1600×900 on a 16:9 display. For comparison, my Surface Go has a 10″ 3:2 display with 1800 x 1200 resolution.
My guess is 1920×1280. I would think that if they were going 1920×1280, that they would call it FHD not HD+, because that resolution is better than FHD.
But the only other reasonable guess is 1440×960, and there aren’t any new panels in manufacture in that resolution (that I’m aware of), only some old TFT screens. However, there are lots of 1920×1280 panels in manufacture right now, several of them are 12″ too.
I suspect it is going to have the same 1366 x 912 screen like the Acer for Education model Brad reported on in January: https://liliputing.com/2019/01/acer-launches-new-12-inch-chromebooks-for-education.html
Not bad for what it is, however, my main pet peeve with the HP one is that it seemingly have a shrunken keyboard, unlike the Acer.